I think it’s fair to say it’s been something of a tough time here at Exeter City. No-one could ever accuse me of understating the situation but, in the long time that I have been involved with the club, things have been much, much worse and we’ve always come through it.

We’ve had a bad run of luck, hit hard by injuries, but we’ve all got to keep the faith!

We had the most amazing start to the season, almost unbelievable, flying high at the top of league and capacity crowds – but we’re back down to earth with something of a bump, so it’s now more than ever that we need the fans to get behind Gary and the team and we can start to build back up.

I may have stolen part of this statement from elsewhere, but the important thing is we win together, we lose together, and that makes sure we stick together.

Our next league matches are Bolton away on Saturday, followed by Shrewsbury Town on the Tuesday – come and join us, pack out the park and back our boys on their mission to get back to their winning ways.

If you’ve been to St James Park, whether as a home or away fan, you’ll certainly know that one of our strongest points is how well you get looked after. One of the people who is fundamental to that is our supporter liaison officer Richard Knight.

Richard is involved in so much across the club and his work has been vital in helping us to achieve the EFL gold family status and our fan engagement awards. And it’s work which has been rewarded, as Richard has been shortlisted for the SLO of the Year Award at the Football Supporters' Association Awards. Richard’s been involved with the club for more than 50 years and I don’t think there’s many things he hasn’t done – so it’s a well-deserved nomination.

The accolades across football our media team continues to attract is what we are all about and that’s also been nationally recognised recently. The team, which consists of Scott Palfrey, Craig Bratt and Zandie Thornton, were up for an award for the content they produce for the club, and although they didn’t win – the winners were everyone’s favourite Hollywood club (you know who I mean) – they were in the top ten out of all 72 teams across the leagues.

That is some achievement and again, thoroughly deserved. These guys work all hours producing an amazing amount of engaging content, which is so important to the success of our club.

If you fancy winning an accolade yourself, then make sure you’re signed up for the Santa Run, which takes over Exeter High Street soon. Organised by our partner charity, Exeter City Community Trust and taking place on Sunday December 3, the event sees hundreds of Santas, elves and even festive pooches running the 2.5k or 5k through Exeter City Centre. You can sign up via their website, here: www.exetercct.org. Now, where’s that red suit gone and I wonder if it still fits…?

And while you’re there, pop along to Princesshay, where our Christmas shop is located. There are loads of festive Grecian goodies, for that city fan in your life, including this year’s fashion ‘must have’ – the obligatory Christmas jumper – surely the answer to all your Christmas gift dilemmas.

Before I finish, I must mention one team who are flying high - Exeter City Women, who have recorded and incredible 11 successive wins and a massive 59 goals this season. On Sunday, November 26, they travel to Cheltenham for round two of the FA Women’s cup after securing their place with an 8-0 win over Helston – good luck to them all.

It may be a tough time, but the club continues to thrive. Come and join us for our next home matches, St James Park is the place to be – and remember, the future’s bright, the future’s red and white!

Julian Tagg,
Exeter City Club President